


Snake and Hawk

by OldDVS



Series: Weasel and Stoat [2]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Acromantulas, M/M, unfinished but not abandoned
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-01
Updated: 2019-09-01
Packaged: 2020-10-05 02:04:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,192
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20481068
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OldDVS/pseuds/OldDVS
Summary: This is the Snape and Harry side of Weasel and Stoat, with the same characters but less focus on weasels and stoats.  Except they keep waltzing through, being adorable.  Snape is acting headmaster, Harry is experiencing the lust and frustration of a teenager told he has to wait until he graduates, Hermione is researching like mad and the mystery of who sent the spiders into Hogwarts is introduced but not resolved.





	Snake and Hawk

**Author's Note:**

> This was in my files, unfinished. I figured there was enough story here to be of interest to people and there's a chance I might get back to it after The Project. The Project is getting 40 years of my fan writing posted. I have, I estimate, about one tenth posted. Most of the rest will go slowly as I have to type from paper copies. Sigh. At least a third of it is probably gone forever, but I keep finding bits, like this one, so eventually...maybe. Anyway, hope springs eternal and all that.

Snake and Hawk  
Warning: This is not complete.

Snape looked up from the papers before him on the big desk. "Go to bed," he ordered. 

"Just as soon as..." Harry began. He started to sit in the comfortable chair, but the acting headmaster interrupted him sharply, causing him to abort the effort and stand straight again. 

"Potter. Go to bed. You've been up for more than twenty-four hours."

"So have you." Potter stood, hands on his hips, and glared at Snape.

"I have no choice. If I don't assume a presence here the ministry may appoint someone from outside to head the school. I intend to preserve the place for Dumbledore."

"Yes. But...."

"Potter, I am going to be surrounded by human stupidity for the foreseeable future. I prefer you don't add to it. Go to bed. If only for a few hours."

"What are they going to do with the acromantula?" Harry said, to change the subject. "It won't fit down the stairs."

"Shrinking it would probably kill it, given the wounds. I suggested removing the window and taking it out of the castle without parading it past the students. It will be taken to the Department of Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, by portkey."

"Good. I don't like having it in the castle." Harry said this with his jaw set. It was an understatement. He was starting to hate those things as much as Ron did. He could see Snape agreed with him. Harry did not like to think that every time he had come into this room during the last two months, there had been a giant spider hanging over his head or hiding in the next room. A giant spider who had been drooling venom on the headmaster and anyone else it could get to without giving itself away. A venom which allowed the spider to more or less control the wizards and witches. 

"Go to bed, Harry," Snape whispered.

Harry sighed. Severus Snape knew that all he had to do to get Harry's cooperation, or at least his attention, was to use his first name. "I suppose you wouldn't let me...."

"You assume right. You know how it must be." 

"Yeah. I know, I know. Two more months." Harry's sigh held exasperation as well as acknowledgment of Snape's words.

"Ten weeks," Snape countered, scowling fiercely.

"Good night, then," Harry said. He waved at the aurors on the other side of the room and circled the big, ugly yellow-brown spider collapsed in the middle of the study. 

"Baby killer," the acromantula coughed out. The voice sounded rougher and weaker than it had only an hour before.

"Trespasser," Harry growled back. "This is our nest. Not yours."

The acromantula convulsed, trying to get to her feet, and her fangs clashed together. But she was well tied, her legs were broken, and she was weak. 

"No, it is ours! The great...Aragog...was born here...." Her voice faded into a hiss of pain.

He was glad to get out of the room. There was an auror standing at the base of the steps. No one else except aurors were in the corridors. They all greeted him either respectfully or kindly, and he returned their greetings cheerfully. Killing Voldemort at Christmas had made him sort of an honorary auror. 

He trudged up to the tower, gave the password to the portrait and bent to step through the hole. Oh, hell, he thought as he straightened up on the other side. A sea of curious faces turned towards him. Most of the Gryffindors were in the common room. The babble of voices raised in greeting or with eager questions washed over him. He smiled, said hello and did not stop as he headed for the stairs. Keep moving was the secret.

In the dormitory, he found it quiet. All of the boys were in bed except Neville, who was sitting at the desk, studying. 

"Hey," Harry greeted him, as he began to strip off his clothing. 

"Harry!" Neville said warmly. He seemed glad to set aside his book. "What about the spider?"

"Acromantula! She's very opinionated about that. They're taking her away. She hasn't said anything but insults for the last hour. Nev, the common room is full. Does that mean there are no classes?"

"Right, Harry. No classes until the auror's finish searching the castle for spiders. You'll be happy to know that the Gryffindors had already searched here before the aurors showed up, so our area has been double searched. Very detailed, too, and no one found anything but normal spiders. The aurors took them away, so we're fine. Lavender and some of the others refused to even go up to the rooms until the aurors finished. I didn't realize so many people hated spiders. Or acromantula," he corrected, with a grin.

Harry nodded. "They didn't bother me much until second year." In fact, he had gotten along fairly well with the spiders in his cupboard when he was young. He'd tried to train them, and failed miserably, but the spiders didn't seem to hold it against him. "When Ron and I went to talk to Aragog, I changed my mind about spiders, and now they make me uncomfortable." Harry was sitting on his trunk, stripping off his shoes and socks. 

"There's just something wrong about giant spiders," Neville agreed. "They've already something people fear, and they don't need to add size to it, too."

Harry nodded. "Everybody else asleep?" Harry asked, gesturing towards the curtained beds.

"Everybody, and more," Neville said with a snicker. He leaned closer. "Ron isn't alone."

Harry paused in the middle of shrugging off his robe. "Ron?"

"His stoat is spending the night."

Harry pulled off his robe. It left his hair standing up. "His stoat? Oh, Malfoy?" he asked.

"Yeah. How long has that been going on?"

"No idea. What I don't understand is how. I just can't imagine it. They've never even liked each other," Harry said. 

"Or respected each other," Neville agreed. "But it was a sight. Ron stood right in the middle of the common room, and held up this little white and brown animal. The girls started cooing. He did this whole speech about how this was his stoat and no one should hurt his stoat, and then they came up and went to bed."

"Went to bed," Harry repeated, shaking his head. "Although it sounds brilliant," he added as he climbed into his pajamas. 

"What, going to bed with Malfoy?" Neville teased.

"No, just going to bed. Wake me for supper?"

"Sure." Neville was turning back to his book when Harry spoke again.

"Nev? You weren't upset, were you, that I didn't bring you, too? Last night?"

Neville grinned. "Upset that I didn't have to stay awake all night slaving away chopping up smelly Basilisk parts, while being flayed with Snape's razor tongue at regular intervals? I was happy to do what I always do, keep watch. You know, for someone who got rewarded for trying to do the right thing about sneaking out in first year, I know loads more about breaking rules and how to hide it than anyone suspects. I still keep an eye out, you know. On the coming and going."

Harry looked up, surprised. "You do that? After first year?"

Neville shrugged. "Any time Dean sneaks out to see Ginny. Any time Seamus checks on that still he thinks no one knows he has." He shook his head. "You and Ron used to go out a lot." 

"Oh," Harry said, looking guilty. He wanted to say it had all been for the war effort, but it hadn't been.

"I know you still creep out once or twice a month. I'm not asking for any details, do you notice? Whatever it is, is your business. But Ron generally sleeps like a log every night, hardly goes anywhere," he shook his head in amazement. "I didn't think he went out anyway, and if he did I never even caught him. He's either extremely clever or he's been meeting Malfoy only during the school day. I wonder where they go?" he asked himself, frowning.

"He...so you think they're...."

Neville gave an emphatic nod. "I'm sure they are. They're at that stage where you can't peel them off each other."

Harry shook his head. It was still hard to believe. "Maybe it's because their animagus forms are so similar, and it's like being family. Ron's form is a weasel, a big one. Malfoy is about half his size, but they look a lot alike, both with those pointy noses. Malfoy is sort of brown on top with white underneath, and Ron is ginger red, almost like his hair. They can move like lightning. They got to Dumbledore and got him out of there like...as if they were a team and had practiced it a hundred times. Have you ever watched weasels run? It was...so smooth. Even while they were dodging the giant spider."

"Wow." Neville said respectfully. 

"Right, and you know how much Ron hates spiders. I would have thought he would practically be frozen with fear, but he was great. At one point, that thing was looming over them, focused on them, which was good, it let the rest of us attack. Neither one of them turned a hair, and they were in human form at that point, dragging Dumbledore out."

"Wow. It would have been something to see. But I'm not sorry I missed it," Neville added softly, with a little shudder.

"I hope Snape doesn't get in trouble for using students for the assault, and not going and getting the teachers or aurors. But we didn't know which teachers were affected. We were sure McGonnagal was, anyway. Did you notice she was acting strangely in the last few weeks?" Harry asked.

"Not really. She's been pretty dull in class. Repeating things over and over, and not talking to us the way she does sometimes, about theory and alternate phrasing. But I was finding that rather helpful, actually. I hope she recovers," he added, quickly.

"Professor Snape says she should. He's pretty sure about everyone except Dumbledore. Says we're lucky that the venom absorbed through the skin is powerful, but it only works well for precisely controlling other people if it is made into a proper potion. We decided the spider didn't know enough about how people lived to take advantage of the situation. The venom let her control the people but I don't think she knew enough about people to think of what to tell them what to do. We also decided that the spider was just a part of some other person or creature's plan. We were just in time, you know. The baby spiders would have hatched today. The plan, according to the acromantula, was that the acromantulas would be allowed to eat everyone and then live in the castle. So was the person who said this lying to the spider? Really just wanting to get rid of us all, with no thought to the consequences?"

"Death Eaters?" Neville suggested

"Don't know yet. It's a group, we think, and organized, but my instincts say it isn't them. Would Death Eaters kill off that many pure-blood children?"

Neville frowned. "Even Death Eaters should object to feeding children to spiders."

"You'd think. It must not be someone who is a parent, because how could they be sure the beast didn't eat their own children?" Harry stretched, and idly scratched his shoulder.

"How did she get through the wards? How did she get into the headmaster's office?" Neville asked.

"She said a wizard brought her in. Had to shrink her down, and you know that's hard on living things. So the man wasn't too concerned about her. There's just too many questions. What did they do to the wards? Why set a monster loose among children?"

Neville nodded. "It's like the Basilisk, that way. I never understood how anyone could bring one of those into the castle either, if they were concerned about the students."

Harry said, "Did they think that differently long ago? I've wondered, too. Oh, that reminds me of an odd thing. We held this monster off with a spray made from the Basilisk, another monster. It worked really well, too, Snape really is a genius with potions. Makes me wonder about coincidence. Luck. The spider didn't understand what Hermione meant when she asked permission for us to go to the Chamber of Secrets for ingredients. We figured out last night that Hermione didn't actually say the word Basilisk where the acromantula could hear her. Was there enough sense in Dumbledore that he could give permission and know that we could get this anti-spider stuff, or was it all just happy accident? If the spider had understood, would she have dripped her venom on Hermione?" Harry shuddered at just the thought.

He yawned again at that point, and Neville made a shooing motion towards the bed. Harry smiled at him and climbed in. He didn't even close the curtains, and dropped off the moment his head was on the pillow. Neville came over, pulled the cover up over Harry's shoulders, and drew the curtains into place around the bed. Then he went to kneel before his trunk to pull out every herbology book he had that mentioned spiders. Those kept him busy until it was time to eat. There was an alarm spell that penetrated spell closed curtains and sound-proofing spells, which he used to wake everyone at six. 

It was an odd group that ambled down to the evening meal from the Gryffindor tower. The seventh year Gryffindor boys surrounded Ron Weasley and Draco Malfoy, and when they sat down at the table those two were beside each other. The entire room buzzed with comment, which only died when there was the sharp ringing of a bell from the teacher's table.

Only a few teachers were seated there, but the table was filled because of a dozen aurors who had joined them. The bell was in the hand of an irate looking Professor Snape, who was standing at his usual place.

"I have an announcement," he said when the voices had died away. "Several of your teachers are indisposed, and this number includes the headmaster. Until another can be appointed, I am acting headmaster." He paused for the groans to die away; it was plain he expected them. "As such, I have several announcements to make. First, there has been an assault on the school and a large acromantula was apprehended inside. We request that all students keep an eye out for webs, for any unusual activity of smaller spiders, and for any sign of a large arachnid. Report such to the aurors who will be patrolling the hallways. We have given the aurors two classrooms to use for offices and storage while they are here, and they will be sleeping on the premises and joining us for meals.

"Second, you will not go anywhere near the Forbidden Forest, which houses these acromantula. Students will go outside the castle only in pairs or groups and venture no further than the gardens and the greenhouses. Students who have collected ingredients for their potions assignment will turn in what they have collected but are forbidden to look for more. 

"Third, do not speak to members of the press, to the aurors unless you have business with them, or to any strangers. Report strangers to the aurors. There will be supply teachers, aurors, for Transfigurations, Astronomy, Arithmancy and the first five years of Potions." That seemed to cause him pain just thinking about. "There will be no flying lessons until further notice. Do not go flying, stay off your brooms. No Quidditch. I hope that is clear. There will be consequences for flying without permission, one of which might be a messy death in the jaws of an acromantula, so I suggest you follow the rules for once. If you have questions, direct them to your head of house. Until further notice, Madam Pince will be acting head of Gryffindor. Try not to drive her insane.

"You are instructed to eat your dinners and then go study for your NEWTS and OWLS. You may go to the library, but no wandering about the castle. Visit your friends, mail your letters and do your errands during the school day. Evening detentions are postponed until a later date. Aurors who come across students where they should not be will send them back to their houses. They are allowed to take points."

He did not ask for questions but sat down and began serving himself from the platter that had appeared in front of him. 

The students began talking excitedly. Hermione took some roast beef and handed the platter to Draco Malfoy, who looked surprised but served himself and passed it to Ron Weasley. Ron had left nothing on the plate to pass on, and so placed it on the table, where it promptly vanished. Another filled plate appeared, further down the table.

"No vegetables?" Hermione asked, looking at Draco and then Ron. "A lack of interest in them may be an effect of your animagus forms. You should make a special effort to eat vegetables and grains while you are human, so that you don't become malnourished." With that, she handed over the dish of carrots. She frowned as both the young men each politely took a single carrot. She passed the potatoes. Then the turnips. Then the peas. Malfoy was looking annoyed, but Ron just nudged him with his elbow and whispered in his ear. and then the sulky blond took a spoonful of peas.

"I had almost all the ingredients for that potions assignment," Hermione grumbled as they all began eating.

"With the Basilisk, I had them all," Malfoy bragged.

"Oh? Excellent!" Hermione said, in admiration. He looked rather taken aback as she said with friendly interest, "Did you get the balance of flora, fauna and mineral that was implied in the syllabus?"

"Almost."

"Me, too." She passed them the bowl of minced fruit which had appeared in front of her.

Out of the corner of his mouth, Draco whispered, "My god, Weasley. You have to live like this?"

Harry said, "Malfoyyyy," his tone a warning. 

Malfoy sighed, but made no more comments. He ate some of the fruit, but only because he liked fruit. After they all ate an enormous amount, for they had missed a meal in there somewhere, the group got up and left the hall together. Harry walked with Hermione, Ron and Draco ahead of them. The Gryffindors listened unabashedly to the two ahead negotiating where they would spend the night. It ended with Ron, rather reluctantly, heading off for Slytherin territory carrying Draco in stoat form, to collect some of Draco's things. Ron had won one argument but lost two.

"Do you suppose he's moving into your room?" Hermione asked. "Will the others be okay with that?"

"Yeah," Harry said. "If Malfoy doesn't act like a berk. Ron will have to keep him in line."

"That should be interesting," Hermione said dryly. "You'll have a front row seat. Remember to tell me the highlights."

Harry grinned at her. She grinned back and said, "Are you coming to the library?"

"Yes." It wasn't what he wanted to do, but he'd spent too much of the weekend on non- academic things like Basilisk chopping, and was behind. "Are you okay? With Ron and...er, ah...."

"His boyfriend?" Hermione asked. She shrugged. "What bothers me is that it doesn't much bother me. It should, I'm sure so I'm going to think about it. And that it's Malfoy. Do you really think Ron can influence him? Keep him in line, you called it?"

Harry shook his head doubtfully. They went up, got their books, and went back down to the library. It was quite full, and they ended up sharing a table with two Hufflepuffs who spent more time staring across at them with big eyes than looking at their books. 

But with Hermione to guide him, he got quite a bit done, and she rode herd over the Hufflepuffs, too. The Huffs did not seem to mind at all. In fact, Harry was sure they liked it.

"I'm going to the headmaster's office," Harry said as they gathered up their papers and books. She nodded, but gave him a sideways look. He left her at the door and rapidly made his way to the stairs. He was stymied at bit by the gargoyle, but he took a page from Snape's book and politely asked to be let in. Two minutes later he was walking into Dumbledore's office. It looked better now that someone had picked up all the gadgets and dust-catchers and put them in their places. The spider was gone from the middle of the room, although the floor was still stained and you could see a rough outline of where she had been. 

Professor Snape was bent over a pile of parchments, but looked up when Harry walked in. "Is something else wrong?" he asked in a nasty, tired tone.

"Not that I know about," Harry said, pulling up a chair and sitting down without an invitation. Snape scowled but did not waste the time objecting. Harry said, "Paperwork?"

"Yes," Snape's fingers pulled though his hair as he clutched his head in frustration. "Our headmaster hasn't filled out a form or answered a letter since the spider first drooled on him. This allows us to pinpoint almost exactly when he was affected, but is otherwise a pain in the arse."

Harry laughed. "Who is teaching for you?" he asked. 

"Hycinthia Sommerhut. Should she ever show up. She's a retired auror. Stop staring at me like that."

"I always stare at you, you know that."

"To my on-going and eternal dismay. I still want you to stop it."

Harry laughed, and then said, "I'm glad no one was hurt here. Have the aurors learned anything more about the spider's plans?"

"Our captive said very little of interest before she was removed. They lowered her down in a net outside the castle walls." 

"About the walls. Are they rough enough for a large spider to climb up?" Harry asked. 

"Yes. I shall order that all windows be kept closed and locked until further notice. At least three or four of the brats will disregard the order."

"And get eaten in their beds."

Snape shook his head. "Someone else gets eaten. It's never fair."

"Unless we make it fair," Harry said. Snape gave him a look of disgust. Harry smiled. As usual, Snape couldn't bear to look at it and turned his gaze back to the papers. Harry signed and said, "You look very good that way. All intent."

"Harry." The one word was heavy with warning.

"Yes, yes, I know. If one is not allowed to court a teacher, I suppose it's even worse to try to court a headmaster."

"Acting headmaster. No courting. Speak not one word which is not appropriate, as agreed."

"Right. I do remember. Not one word from me about how much I would like to get to know you better. No flirting, no touching, no hint of affection. In return, you will treat me like any other student except in matters pertaining to the demise of Voldemort, and sometimes not even then. All bets off June 23rd."

"Twenty-fourth."

Harry made a face. "Can I at least tell you how pleased I am that the spider didn't dribble or spit on you?"

"No."

Harry sighed. "Fine. Do you think this is a plot by Death Eaters?"

"No clue. We need more information." Snape rubbed his temples slowly.

"You head hurts."

"It's what happens when you try to use legilimency on a spider. She was experiencing pain, and also rage at the elimination of her eggs. It obscured most of her other thoughts. Perhaps I was not looking into the right pair of eyes."

"Do they feel pain like we do?" Harry asked.

"No, I don't believe so. The auror who took her away doesn't expect her to live, given that the Basilisk spray got into her lungs. Book lungs are somewhat vulnerable in this manner, and there is the matter of her broken legs."

"Did you discover anything of interest?"

"Little. She was a volunteer, and was brought here by a wizard who shrunk her down and put her in a box. I could not deduce what he looked like. The box was left with the lid loose in this room, and she returned to her size soon after she stepped out. She left this room only once, to lay her eggs in the headmaster's bedroom."

"Oh, good. I was imagining Dumbledore having to sleep with that thing in the same room," Harry said with a shudder. "Uh...you don't have to sleep in there, do you?"

"No. The idea doesn't appeal." 

Harry laughed.

Snape said, "She really wanted to eat him, after all those days of staring down at him as he worked. The wizard had told her that she could have him, once her children had left the nest and gone out into Hogwarts to look for their first meals."

"And with some of the other teachers controlled by the acromantula, she imagined they would have free rein?" Harry asked. "Students have magic. Once we were aware, we could easily fight back."

"Perhaps it was only necessary for a few spiderlings to survive," Snape said. "In the wild, I believe that a large number of then never reach adulthood. The thought of them dying probably did not distress her. I am more concerned about the wards, and how someone could bring in a dangerous creature. The castle should have rebelled."

"It didn't rebel at the Basilisk."

"Perhaps because it belonged to a founder. But you are right. At least one of the wards and protections have failed." 

"Ron says the forest is taking over the grounds a few inches a day. That shouldn't happen either." 

"The wards are clearly compromised. I hope, as acting headmaster, I will be allowed by the castle to study the ward patterns tonight. I may need your help to restructure them or repair them." He didn't look directly at Harry as he said this, and it was done with a hint of annoyance that he should have to ask it of a student.

"Tonight?" Harry asked.

"Yes. To be safe, we should make repairs as soon as possible."

Harry gave a resigned sigh. "What time should I be here?" 

"You will be at the Astronomy Tower a half hour after midnight."

"That's two hours away," Harry began. "Could I...." 

"No, you can't stay until then. Go get some sleep."

Harry sighed again. He changed the subject. "Did you know Draco Malfoy spent the night in the Gryffindor dormitory?"

"Yes. He demonstrates a complete lack of intelligence in doing so, but it is to be expected. Animagus bonds can be very powerful."

Harry knew about the bonds of friendship that being together as animagus could forge. The Marauders were a case in point. "What causes them? Because somehow I think Peter Pettigrew missed all the bonding."

"If he was already involved in a stronger bond, such as that the Dark Lord asked of his followers, then he would not have been able to join in the animagus bonding that the others of his group were experiencing. Also, some people are unable to form any bonds with fellow humans. He may be such."

"That first idea implies that Peter's loyalties shifted early. When he was only fourteen or fifteen."

"He would not be the only one plucked early by the Dark One. He tried to get more than one of my Slytherins before time. Something always seemed to go wrong," Snape said, with a cold, satisfied smile.

Harry smiled back. 

Snape caught himself smiling at Potter and scowled. "Go to each house and inform the prefects that all the windows are to be kept shut, day and night."

Harry stood up. "Yes, sir." He got up and headed for the door, but could not help looking behind. Snape was looking down at the parchments piled in front of him and did not seem to notice Harry as he left. Harry went first to Slytherin, then Hufflepuff, then Ravenclaw. He was tired as he began climbing swiftly up the stairs to Gryffindor territory. The common room was fairly quiet. He found a prefect and passed on his message. The prefect went to tell the other prefects.

The seventh year boys dormitory was not quiet. There were now two trunks at the foot of Ron's bed, and two wild weasels chasing each other around the room while the other boys laughed, and called out suggestions for tricks and stunts. As Harry arrived, Ron switched back to human form, automatically reaching out for the stoat which launched himself into Ron's arms.

"Harry! What's the news, mate?"

"All windows to be kept shut and locked until further notice. Spiders can climb up stone walls," Harry reported. "Snape's going to check the wards tonight." Everyone had looked over at the windows, one of which was open a bit. Neville went over to close it, and then he checked the old- fashioned fasteners to make sure they shut tightly.

Harry turned to Ron. "New dorm-mate?" he asked, inclining his head towards the stoat, who was busy poking his nose into Ron's armpit.

"If you don't mind. I already asked the others," Ron said. "Don't say no, Harry. The Slytherins don't see it as a rejection. Him coming here. Draco told them..." He paused and blushed. Draco turned into a person again, bracing himself with an arm around Ron's neck as his feet found the floor, and he finished the sentence for him. "I told them I was sleeping with Weasley and I was sure they'd rather have me do it here than bring a Gryffindor into Slytherin territory every night. They agreed with me."

"They won't turn on you?" Harry asked, frowning.

"They turned on me when my parents died and the Dark Lord lost. Turned on everyone who had connections with the war. Suddenly, no one wanted to acknowledge the losing side. The entire social structure of the house changed, and power went into the hands of the minority who had been playing at being neutral about the war. Anyone else on either side is busy pretending it never happened. And before you ask," he went on, "My father and I did not see eye to eye on politics. No, I was not marked, nor did I intend to be, although it might have happened if my father had insisted. I could see no reason why a Malfoy should have to spend money on a rabid has-been, much less bow down to him."

Harry could see the relief those words brought to his housemates, the breath let out, the dawning smiles. He himself thought Malfoy had left out a lot of important things, but he didn't question him or ask for details. He didn't really want to know right now, he decided. "I," he announced, "am going to bed."

This was the signal for everyone to nod and agree that this was a splendid idea. They scattered to showers and baths, putting away their things and pulling on pajamas. Harry didn't, he just went to bed in his clothing, a silencing spell around his bed and his small wizarding alarm clock set for midnight.

It seemed like he had hardly closed his eyes before the sharp chirps of his Early Bird clock woke him up again. He silently dressed, left a note for Neville saying that he had permission to be out and would be back in a few hours, and, in his heaviest robes, he crept out of the room and out of Gryffindor. 

Harry cast a warming charm as he stepped out onto the astronomy platform; it was a cold night. Snape was already there, a tall black shadow looking out at the forest until the sound of Harry's feet on the stone caused him to turn. "You're prompt. Are you ill?" Snape asked in mock concern. 

Harry laughed and joined him at the parapet. It had no crenellations, and was just high enough for Harry to lean on it comfortably. The stone had absorbed the cold but preferred to have Harry's warmth. He had to step back before the stone sucked it all. "The wards?"

"Suffering. Here." A quick flick of his wand and Harry could see the silver and gold lines that outlined the protections. Some of the lines seemed thin as threads, others flickered. It made a pretty pattern, stretched out in a huge roughly circular shape around the castle, but Harry was reminded uncomfortably of a spider's web. The lines near the forest were not smooth, as they were on the other sides. Instead, they were sharp and jagged, almost in the shape of teeth. 

"So what are we doing tonight?" Harry asked.

"Only taking note of what changes have occurred, and what needs to be repaired, and then adding enough energy that the wards do not fail at the weakest connections. We will do more after I have studied our options." Snape spoke while looking out, and did not turn to face Harry. "Perhaps the enemy will not even know that we are aware of the problem, if we are careful."

"So you want us to combine our magic, the way we did to kill Voldemort?" Harry asked. "Only, make the magic flow the other way, to you? Will we be able to do that?" he asked dubiously. 

"I do hope so. If not, we will have to wait until I teach you ward skills. That could take weeks." Snape stood a little taller, stretching a little, letting his magic know it was needed. "The castle must accept me as the headmaster for this to work."

"It should. The door to the headmaster's office opened for you, didn't it?" Harry pointed out. "And the aurors and the ministry haven't yet questioned it or made any protest. No one else has been appointed by the board."

"Yet."

"The students followed your instructions." Harry went on doggedly.

"See if you can do the same."

"Will you hug me again?" Harry asked hopefully.

"No. This time, you must put your arms around me." Harry's smile got larger as he watched Snape's long fingers undo the cloak fastenings at Snape's throat. Quickly, the fingers moved down and undid his top robe buttons, then those of his shirt. 

Harry hurried to put his face down on the triangle of bare skin now showing. He inhaled deeply. His armed wrapped tight around the black cloth of the robes, his hands under the heavy cloak for warmth and to be one layer closer to the warm body he held. He tried to hold back a happy wiggle, but ending up squirming against the tall thin body anyway.

Snape sighed heavily, jerked an elbow against the boy to tell him to hold still and behave himself, and then awkwardly held up his wand. He began his incantations slowly, his wand tracing the gold and silver ward lines Snape repeated the same phrases over and over without stopping, moving the two of them one step to his right every three minutes. At last he was back at the spot he began, uttered the last syllable and lowered his wand. Without warning, his legs gave out, and Harry struggled to hold the larger man up. He eased them towards the stone floor until they were sitting in a tangle. Waiting for Snape to get his breath and senses back, Harry took advantage of his position and held fast to the other man, his head against Snape's. 

Entirely too soon, Snape managed to sit up properly, and a breath later he was standing. Harry scrambled up after him, and caught sight of the still glowing lines of the ward. Snape turned to look, too.

He blinked. "Success, Mr. Potter. We seem to have, without intending to, even replaced some of the weak lines, instead of repairing them. You may return to your bed."

"Rather go to yours," Harry replied, but then he apologized at once. Snape gave him a look and turned to leave. Harry hurried so that he might walk at his side, instead of behind. Snape let him. They walked down the stairs side by side, their shoes tapping the steps in unison. When they parted, Snape did not watch him go. Harry, however, kept his head turned until the man was out of sight. Then he trotted along, literally, in order to hurry to his bed. He was exhausted. 

Getting up in the morning was incredibly difficult. Harry's muscles hurt more than they ever had after Quidditch practice, and his eyelids weighed a ton. He tried not to resent the well-rested weasels who were running about underfoot. No wonder ferrets and their relatives weren't on the student list of accepted pets. They were nosy, troublemaking, rambunctious creatures. And they did smell. 

The house elves wouldn't have to dust much today, as the weasels were scooting, rolling and wiggling across the floor. When they switched forms and headed off to the showers, arms around each other's waist, Harry was not the only one who shouted after them, teasing or offering opinions on appropriate behavior. Or the only one who stared, because Malfoy was licking at Ron's ear, and Ron was shouting at him to get off, but he was laughing at the same time.

It was good to see Ron happy like that. Harry was anxious, though. He kept wondering how long a relationship with a Slytherin would last, and what sort of boomerang effect it would have on Ron if it didn't. Ron was barely over that odd break-up with Hermione. It was just all so...unexpected. He hadn't even suspected that Ron might like boys as well as girls. For that matter, he was sure that Ron hadn't known, either. He wondered what Hermione thought.

At breakfast, Hermione seemed to be most interested in a book she kept propped up on her thigh and the edge of the table. She did stop for the additional announcements Snape made. Then her head went right back into the book.

"What are you reading?" Draco asked after he took his last bite. Everyone gave him a sympathetic look. He didn't know you never asked Hermione that. 

"Archer's Compendium. Spiders again. This time, colony spiders. The acromantula in the forest seem to have been bred from colony spiders, because usually spiders don't live together. Fascinating creatures, colony spiders. Did you know in one species, the nests have females of two sizes? Each size does a different type of work. And colony spiders sometimes raise the babies together, too, with all the females looking out. The evolution of this must be amazing. Oh, and for most of these types of spiders, the ratio of males to females is as much as ten to ninety. All the breeding females lay eggs, but usually only one egg case per season. I would dearly like to know how many females the colony in our forest has. Colony spiders have the bigger individuals in the center and the smaller ones on the edge. I can't help thinking that's good for Hogwarts. Most of the ones we deal with because of proximity, then, are small. However, we can't make decisions based on the ones we encounter. The older, larger spiders are probably smarter. I'd like to know exactly how smart they are. Oh, and another source said that two types of colony spiders also cooperatively hunt, which frankly I find upsetting. I was also reading some fascinating things about their webs. The dome web in the forest is probably an inversion of a type of web which...what?" she asked, as Ron tapped her on the arm.

"You're traumatizing my boyfriend," Ron said. "He isn't used to you yet." Draco did have a rather stunned look on his face. He also looked intrigued and was reaching for the book. Ron pushed his hand away. "No, you'll get trapped! We have to go to class, remember? There will be new teachers, so we should be sure to be early," he said, addressing that last part to both of them.

"Oh! You're right, of course," Hermione said, standing up immediately and gathering her things. "Sorry, Malfoy."

"Know your enemy. Spiders, in this case," Malfoy added. He turned to Ron, a smile on his face. "You called me your boyfriend," he said, obviously pleased. Ron blushed. 

Harry finished his toast and got up, too. The group split up at the top of the steps. Ron was very reluctant to part from Draco, but Harry took his arm on one side and Hermione took his other arm, and they firmly escorted him to Transfigurations, leaving Draco to make his way to his own class alone.

The man who stood at the front of the transfigurations classroom was tall, very broad and muscled, and almost handsome. He wore his brown hair to his shoulder and auror's robes with shiny black boots. "Seventh years," he said, looking at the list. "Combined class, all houses. Good. Have some fun with this, won't we?" His grin was broad. "I'm Mort Bass, and I'll be teaching you this week. Or, rather, I'll be helping you revise for N.E.W.T.S. and seeing to a little recruiting on the side. We'll start on the ten most likely questions asked on the tests. I have a list right here. First, what are ten safety rules one must remember when transfiguring?" He grinned and said, "They always ask a safety question on the Newts."

Hermione's hand shot up. Harry hunched down, shoved his glasses into place and began scratching out his list with his quill. He had to nudge Ron to get him to focus on his lesson. Twice. Ron was sketching little stoats in the corners. Could he be any more besotted?

Lunch brought a noisy crowd of students, all talking about the new teachers and how the classes had been different. The aurors at the high table all looked a little exhausted. Harry was glad to see that Hagrid had come up for the meal. The half-giant looked a little confused, as there were aurors on both sides of him, asking question after question about the forest and the acromantulas. It made sense, as he was one of the few to ever go that deep into acromantula territory, and it was his fault the giant spiders were there. Harry wondered if the aurors knew about that.

Four times on the way to class that afternoon Harry got stopped by aurors asking questions. Did he look like the font of all knowledge? Apparently so, as he even got asked the way to the loo! 

He didn't eat much that evening at dinner. He had been tired all day, and now he didn't feel like eating. He pushed a few bites around his plate and drank his pumpkin juice, and kept watching the high table, because Professor Snape did not come to dinner. He could not help the tiny stab of worry that made him wonder if something had gone wrong. Another acromantula? Something worse? He knew in his heart that his uneasy feeling was probably nonsense, that worrying about Snape was silly, but he couldn't help it. 

"Hey, Ron. Want to talk to Hagrid?" he asked as they pushed away from the table at last. 

Ron 's face went a little white under his freckles. "I...maybe later." He took two steps back. Malfoy, in stoat form, was peeking out of a pocket. 

"What's wrong?" Harry asked. Ron looked down and mumbled. "What?" Harry asked again.

"The man eats stoat sandwiches!" Ron reminded him, indignantly. "I'm not letting him anywhere near mine!"

"Oh! That's right!" Hermione said from behind him. "But you should talk to him and remind him about the two of you, so he doesn't do anything...accidentally."

"Tomorrow. He's obviously busy now," Ron said, and speedily took himself away in the opposite direction.

Harry saw that yet another auror had cornered Hagrid, and so he decided to talk to him later, too. He went instead to the headmaster's office. At the gargoyle he politely asked, and was let in once again. He was pleased to see that Snape was seated at the desk. Not so pleased to see the big auror standing in front of it. Harry didn't know the man confronting Snape. Scowling face, fifty years old or more, sleeves rolled up, wand in hand. It didn't look good. They broke off their discussion as he came in, and both men turned their heads to glare at him.

"Anything else, sir?" Harry said to Snape in chirky helpful voice. 

Snape rolled his eyes at him but then paused and waved him over. "Potter. What took you so long? Do you have it?" Snape's head was turned and the auror could not see his face. What did he mean by that expression? What was he talking about? He acted as if Harry had been expected! Harry had to make something up on the spot. 

"Sorry, sir, the account of our visit to the acromantula colony five years ago isn't finished. We should be able to give you something tomorrow morning." Couldn't he have thought of something else, he asked himself as he heard the words coming out of his mouth. Something that didn't make extra work?

Snape nodded approvingly. Even while his lips turned up. The man was enjoying seeing him struggle to pull this out of his arse! "See that you do," Snape said. The look on his face forced more words out of Harry's mouth.

"Hermione has her first research on colony spiders ready. She wants to know what form you want it in," he went on. Hermione would probably forgive him for making extra work for her. She actually got pleasure out of writing up what she discovered.

"The usual," Snape replied, one eyebrow up at this. He turned to his visitor. "As you can see, I'm rather busy right now. Perhaps we could address your concerns tomorrow."

"We do it now." There was no question in the man's determined voice.

Harry interrupted. "Also, Hermione wants to know if the there was webbing on the ceiling up there," he pointed, "and what shape it was in, only she wanted a sample. I said they'd probably already removed it."

All three of them looked up. There was indeed a hammock of dirty webbing stretched across the entire width of the domed ceiling. It was somewhat shredded, but looked like it had been a bowl shape. Or was that just from the weight of the spider? 

"Take what you need. Don't touch it with your skin," Snape said. "Do the aurors want a sample before I get rid of it?" he asked his visitor.

"I suppose so," the man grouched. "I'll fetch it. You two stay here." He then floated up to the ceiling, while Harry wondered what that fantastic spell was, and Snape just scowled as he did at children who dared to show off in his class. 

After using his wand to clip out two sections about a foot square, the man floated down again. Definitely a show-off, Harry decided, watching the man conjure a clear glass box for each of the web samples. The auror then gave a flick of his wand and the rest of the webbing burned up. It stank. Rather to everyone's surprise, objects fell from the ashes as the web burned, falling to the floor with a clatter, clank, and a belated thud. 

Snape bent over. "Two galleons and a knut, a letter opener, a pepper pot, two mis-matched and now singed socks and a...."

"A dead, desiccated cat, wrapped in webbing." The auror pursed his lips and said, "are you missing a cat, Snape?"

"Evidently," Snape said. He peered at it again. "That had better not be Mrs. Norris, or I shall never hear the end of it," he muttered.

"Looks rather orange," Harry said. He decided he would delicately sound out Hermione about the whereabouts of Crookshanks. 

Snape looked up at the auror. "Destroy it. It's nothing for a child to see, even if it turns out to be a missing pet."

"Right away, Headmaster!" the other mocked, but he did raise it into the air and flick an Incendio at it. The dry body burned rather brightly and a bit of ash spiraled to the floor. Snape's face said he did not appreciate cat-ash on the carpet. Harry decided there was no chance of talking privately to Severus tonight and said a polite, if sulky, good-bye before he picked up one of the web sample boxes and escaped. The men began to argue before he had even put a foot on the moving steps.

He went up to the tower. To his relief, Hermione had her cat in her lap and a book in her hand. "Hermione? Professor Snape would like a copy of your research about colony spiders. Perhaps by tomorrow? Also, here's a web sample, if we need it." He handed it over.

She looked thrilled. Harry left her digging though her bookbag with enthusiasm. He went upstairs and found Ron next. "Help me remember everything about our trip into the forest second year, and about the acromantulas," he said. "We need to write it up for Snape." 

Ron groaned as he gathered his stoat onto to his chest and lay back. "So where should be start?" 

"From when we went into the forest," Harry said. "He doesn't want any extra details, Ron." Like about how stupid it was to go there in the first place.

"Right," Ron agreed. "So we start with going into the forest following the spiders...." 

"It made more sense back then," Harry muttered, scratching down the first words onto his parchment. They talked their way through the tale, each adding details to the other's comments. Ron was stroking the soft fur of his stoat and interjecting reminders and corrections into Harry's rambling account. Then Harry would say, "Oh, yes, you're right, but remember, first..." and try to go back and squeeze it in. 

About halfway into the story, Draco turned back into a person, snatched the quill from Harry, and took over writing down the tale, noting aloud that Harry was an idiot and had worse handwriting than a demented elf. Since it was essentially true, Harry let him have at it. Draco asked keen questions, dragging out additional facts from the other two with an organized, if macabre, intensity. He also mocked them about their fear, questioned their recall and added in his own comments in the margins. It was a reflection of Ron's infatuated state that he apparently found that cute. It was a two way street, though. Even focused on a project, Malfoy was easily distracted by Ron, even when Ron was doing nothing more exciting than breathing. At one point, Harry had to kick at them both to get them to un-clinch so that they could get on with it and finally finish.

Harry went to bed as soon as they were done writing, but once inside the curtains he found he couldn't sleep. He put his two pillows behind him and sat back against the headboard, the blanket pulled to his waist and his knees up. He thought about the same thing he always thought about.

Severus Snape.

The most unlikely candidate for boyfriend in the entire wizarding world. Maybe in the entire Muggle world, too. 

That annoying man. 

If only he hadn't overheard those Slytherin girls gossiping about their potions instructor back in fourth year. Talking about how lack of sex was probably what made Snape so grumpy. They began laughing and throwing out suggestions of who to send to improve the man's disposition. The names had all been male. So later he had asked about, very discreetly, and discovered once again that he was an ignorant, Muggle-raised idiot. 

All he had known before about alternate sexuality came with the taunts Dudley and his friends had invented to harass him. He didn't know much about homosexuality, but he knew it wasn't considered a good thing. Dudley had often called him a little nancy boy before he pounded on him. At first, Harry had thought it meant someone who was smaller or weaker. Then he knew it was something else, but not exactly what. He had figured most of it out by his third year at Hogwarts, due to listening to the locker room teasing and midnight bragging of his contemporaries. 

He had learned that the wizarding world was as conflicted as the Muggle one about how to treat gay wizards and witches, but for different reasons. Because on the one hand, blood had to be honored. Wizards and witches were supposed to reproduce. But on the other hand, there was a little extra power which came to some homosexual wizards. They often had strong magic, and strong magic was a measure of status as important as money or family name. 

This strength made gay wizards, and less often, witches that way inclined, the defenders of the family. Hermione said it made genetic sense. If one wasn't contributing children, then protection of those who were was practical. Especially given the greater magical ability. She'd gone on for quite some time about her theory, but Harry had lost the thread of it about five minutes in. He did puzzle out that wizard society often assumed that a really strong wizard, such as Voldemort, was that way inclined. You could have slapped Harry over with a quill when he found out that most of the pure-bloods made the same assumption about him, reinforced when he killed Voldemort. 

For once, they turned out to be right.

About the time Harry came to terms with what he was, he learned for sure that his potions master was also thus. And possibly, Draco Malfoy. Really, when you thought about it, he should have developed his crush on Malfoy, who had the advantage of being handsome, in a narrow-faced, irritating way. He was glad he hadn't, glad for Ron and for himself.

No, he had found himself focusing on Severus Snape. The eyes. The voice. The height. And yes, the power. As time went on, he developed an appreciation for the cheekbones. The nose. The long feet. His hands itched to move away the dark robes, to wiggle under the heavy cloth and touch skin.

Eventually he'd tried to find out if Severus Snape had a boyfriend. Or a long term companion. Or even an occasional one night stand. He was just curious, he told himself, loitering in the halls, spying on the man. Snape became suspicious, and cornered him in detention one night to demand some answers. He didn't like the ones Harry gave him, and tried to bully Harry into recanting his awkwardly expressed feelings.

Harry, of course, had a stubborn streak and had resisted. Somewhere in the yelling and shouting, he had fallen hard for the man. Destroying the dark lord together sixth year had cemented it for him. His admiration for Snape had melded with his respect, and let him bury his previous dislike. Teenage hormones had provided the sauce and the cherry on top had been the way Snape had reacted when Harry had announced his intentions.

He's looked intrigued. Pleased. Possessive. For about two seconds. Then he'd explained to Harry that he was an under-aged, over-hormonal teenager without the slightest concept of what he was proposing and Harry was never to speak of it again. Several months of shouting matches later, they had progressed to their current state of careful neutrality. They had agreed, after one last bout of screaming, growling and attempted bullying on each part, that they would set aside the subject until Harry had left school. 

Neither one of them could resist an occasional dig at the other, but for the most part the truce held. 

Harry wondered if Snape spent as much time with his right hand as Harry did with his own. Since his hand had provided him with sum total of his sexual experience, Harry could well imagine Severus doing...that. In fact, he imagined it a lot. What he tried not to imagine was Severus with someone. Anyone who was not him, anyway. He discovered that he was, just a bit, possessive himself. For example, it had really bothered him to walk out and leave that auror with Severus. So what if the man was yelling at Snape? Harry yelled at Snape a lot, too. It didn't necessarily mean what it looked like on the surface. 

Here he was sitting in the dark, brooding. Again. He made the effort and calmed himself. To distract his thoughts, he took hold of his cock and began moving his wrist just a little, soothing away one problem but creating another. But this one he knew how to handle. In remarkably short order he was sprawled out on his bed, panting happily and trying to get enough brain cells together to remember a cleaning charm. His groping hand found his wand. 

He didn't remember falling asleep. He dreamed. Dreamed of spiders. He woke up early, just before dawn. Unable to go back to sleep, he put on slippers and a bathrobe and went to climb up onto the ledge of the window. His feet tucked up to keep them warm, he leaned against the stone. He didn't open the window, but watched through the wavy panes as the light went black to grey to bright. The trees and the pitch came into focus. His eyes were on the forest, trying to see if he could actually see signs that it was moving closer to the castle. There was nothing. In fact, normally the morning brought birds which flew along the edge of the lake and the forest, looking for breakfast and calling to the others. 

Nothing was flying this morning. It wasn't right. But he couldn't see anything actually wrong. He stifled the impulse to go outside and look. Snape had said the students were to stay close to the castle. No doubt Snape had spells in place to make sure he was obeyed. 

There was the clatter of shoes on wood out on the stairs down to the common room. Harry unwound from his place against the window, only then realizing how the glass and stone had chilled him. A hot shower was definitely in order. He rummaged in his trunk for his bag and slipped out quietly. He need not have bothered trying to be quiet, because almost all of his dormitory mates were in the shower room. There was a weasel and a stoat sharing one shower stall, wresting about. They looked totally ridiculous sopping wet. Harry tried not to look that way, but the occasional thumps against the partitions and wild weasel screeches made it almost impossible to keep his mind on washing himself.

They all went down to breakfast together. Harry was relieved to see Acting Headmaster Snape at the high table. The man had an auror on each side of him and a scowl on his face. Harry sat down at the Gryffindor table with a grumbling Ron on one side -- Malfoy was at the Slytherin table -- and a distracted Hermione on the other. She kept diving for a scroll of parchment, scribbling a few lines, and then going back to her breakfast for a few more bites. Ron ate his usual amount with his usual speed and efficiency. 

Both of his friends looked up when there was a thump from the teacher's table. Snape stood up. The hump had come from a heavy staff he held in one hand. The student chatter cut off at once. Snape tapped his wand to his throat and said, "There will be evening classes for sixth and seventh year students. These will be specialized classes held while the aurors are present among us. They have graciously volunteered to pound a little more knowledge into your dense heads, so I suggest participation. Each student will be able to take only two of these classes, which will meet twice a week. There is a limit of ten students per class and they will be filled on a first-come basis. The sign-up table is outside the doors, and I expect no shoving, pushing or other uncivilized behavior. Please pay attention because I am not going to repeat myself. The available options are as follows. Transmutation Applications. Apparation Basics. Advanced Apparation. Floo Secrets. Useful Charms for the Office. Self Improvement Charms. Broom Manufacturing Spells. Basic Animagus Theory. And last, Legal Rights and Obligations of Animagus. All students who have achieved Animagus transformation, registered or not, are required to take the last offering. We will have representatives from the Ministry to register individuals who attain a transformation, on the last day of the class. Please address questions to the aurors."

He sat down again. There was a shuffle and then all the upper level students exited the room at a pace which almost, but not quite, qualified as a run. Harry, not as fast off his mark due to his focus on the speaker instead of the message, got the last slot in the Basic Animagus Theory. He then tried for the broom class, but was too late, although saw from the list that both Draco and Ron had been on time. He didn't like the number of Slytherins in the Floo Secrets line, although he did wonder about what the secrets might be that attracted so many from that house. Advanced Apparation was open, but he actually needed the basics first. At last, the choice left was between Useful Charms for the Office and Self-Improvement Charms. Harry eyed the list for Self-Improvement and talked himself out of it the instant he realized that he would be the only boy there. He signed on the line for Office Charms just as an auror called out there was room for one more in Transmutation. But, too embarrassed to cross his name off in front of the beaming auror and uncertain if he could make it in time anyway, he gave a weak smile and retreated. 

He joined his friends chatting near the stairway. Hermione was pleased to have bagged both the Basic Apparation and the Transmutation sessions. Draco and Ron had the same classes and were delighted. All three of them stared at Harry when he told them his choices, but they were polite enough to make no comment. Except Draco, who got halfway through a dig about the Secretary Who Lived before Ron's elbow robbed him of the breath to continue. 

Everyone chattered on the way to class, and all day it was the topic of conversation. All the teachers warned that they expected the students to continue to put their usual efforts into their daily classes, and predicted dire consequences for those who slacked off. Just after dinner there was a rush to finish homework early.

At seven, Harry was sitting, with three sixth year girls and a sixth year boy, listening to Auror Anna Vance explain the importance of proper paperwork in an auror's case, and how to file it so that it could be retrieved at a moment's notice. They would be learning how to duplicate paperwork and yet leave the original clearly marked as such, how to create small wizard spaces in filing systems, how to file and retrieve anything. It didn't put him to sleep, but it was a near thing.

"This is brilliant," Ron said after classes. "Tonight we learned..." he paused and looked towards Hermione. "Did you know an animagus in animal form can even tell the difference between a Muggleborn and a pure-blood by scent?"

Hermione leaned forward, interested. "Did they say why?"

"No," Ron admitted. "But we experimented. You *can* usually tell, and the ones you aren't sure of are usually half-bloods."

"Muggleborns probably use more petroleum based products," Hermione said. "I should like to experiment and see what factors are involved. There's the difference in diet, I've noticed. Harry and I select different fruits and vegetables than Ron, for example, and I eat more green salads than most in the school, where as Ron usually goes for root vegetables and very traditional meat based meals." She nodded to herself and said, "And then there's the hair, of course."

"Hair?" Harry asked.

"Well, the Muggles use shampoo, and the traditional wizards and witches don't. I bet Pansy has never shampooed her hair in her life. A pureblood would rinse her hair in hot water in the bath or shower, and then use a scented tincture or perfumed water. Occasionally she'd do a spell to remove excess oil but usually she'd just be sure to brush her hair a hundred strokes a day. Just like our Muggle ancestors did, only they probably didn't have the scented water, except for the rich people.

"When I first realized that Lavender and the others never washed their hair I was grossed out. I was always running out of shampoo and they would try to tell me I didn't need Muggle potions. In fact, they assured me that if I switch over that it will even control some of the frizziness I had. But I every time I talked myself into trying it, I only lasted a few days. It just seems so...so dirty. The oils have to build up to the right level before it balances out and I crack on the third day. Besides, it feels good to shampoo my hair. But, anyway, the girls tried to show me that their hair was even nicer than mine, and in a way, that's true, because the tinctures add nice smells to the hair. Muggle products are scented, but mostly the smell gets washed down the drain. And there are some traditional hairstyles that actually need the oil in the hair to work.

"The hair sort of sticks to itself and doesn't fall down. And it braids more easily. And it doesn't smell bad, but you *can* smell the difference. But wizards smell more than Muggles other places, too. You see, the deodorants and antiperspirants prevent the odor as it happens, you might say. Wizards and witches cast cleaning spells on their clothing and body when they notice or at regular intervals, but the smell is there between times, you see? Only it's relatively fresh sweat and other body smells, which actually allow them to communicate in ways that Muggles don't, because they keep getting rid of the pheromones and scents that...what?"

Draco closed his mouth and shook his head. Ron patted him on the shoulder. “You'll get used to it.”


End file.
